Picture : Neil McCartney
The lawyer representing Jacob Zuma’s financial backer and diamond dealer Louis Liebenberg said the former president cannot be blamed for everything that is wrong with South Africa.
Liebenberg has already forked out R500 000 in a bid to help the former statesman pay for his private prosecution of senior lead state advocate Billy Downer on the multi-billion rand arms deal case and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan.
Zuma opened a criminal complaint in October last year, at the Pietermaritzburg police station, against Downer for allegedly leaking his confidential medical records to Maughan.
Speaking on SAfm on Friday morning, Liebenberg’s attorney Walter Niedinger said his client wanted to help the former president because he is unfairly blamed for everything that is wrong in the country.
“He decided to go and see President Zuma in order to make sure and find out what the facts are and he found president Zuma to be a people’s person, somebody who really cares about human beings and this is something they have in common.”
“He feels President Zuma is being victimised and blamed as a person for everything that went wrong in this country, which in our view is completely no so,” Niedinger said.
ALSO READ: Arms deal corruption case: Zuma’s lawyers try another approach to get rid of Downer
Meanwhile, Liebenberg has rebutted claims he is a racist after a recording of him using the K-word in a private conversation with his ex-girlfriend was leaked to the media.
Liebenberg is heard on the recording hauling insults directed at black people.
“Just like the f**king squatters, with their sh*t, they fill your whole yard with p*ss. Those guys, with their big c*cks standing by the road and raping farmers and f**king murdering them. Now we want to get away from them, but we can’t; it’s f**king impossible.”
Niedinger told the SABC Liebenberg is not a racist.
“From a racial perspective, I have to place on record, Mr Liebenberg is not a racist… people who really know him closely will know that he is not a racist, that he’s got a good heart supporting many communities.”
Zuma is expected to address a press briefing on the legal developments on Friday.
ALSO READ: Karyn Maughan, Billy Downer’s application to set aside Zuma’s prosecution to be heard in December
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